VISITATIONS
What is the visiting process like for prisoners and their visitors?
Visitors who travel to see a prisoner must sign in at the front desk of the prison that the prisoner is housed at and inform the from desk officer the name and prison number of the prisoner they would like to visit. After that, the front desk officer contacts the housing unit the prisoner lives in, who then locates the prisoner and notifies her/him know that they have a visit. The visitors must wait in a visitor lobby located near the front entrance of the prison until the prisoner arrives in the visiting room before being escorted to the visiting room themselves.
The prisoner must then report to the prison Control Center and wait for an officer to give her/him a clothed-body search. After that the prisoner is escorted by the officer to the visiting room to report to the officer working in the visiting room. The prisoner is then assigned a seat and awaits her/his visitors to be escorted into the visiting room from the visitor lobby.
Before being escorted to the visiting room visitors must walk through a metal detector and be given a clothed-body search by an officer of the same gender as the visitor. Visitors must open their mouths to allow staff to look inside and they are required to remove their footwear and socks which are searched as well. Next, visitors have one of their hands marked with an invisible flourescent marker so they can be distinguished from the prisoners when their hands are held under a flourescent light entering and leaving the visiting room. Visitors are then escorted to the visiting room to visit with the prisoner.
At the end of each visit, visitors are escorted back out to the visitor lobby and allowed to leave. Prisoners are taken to a bathroom and strip searched to ensure they don’t attempt to smuggle any contraband into the prison from the visiting room. Staff instruct the prisoner to remove all her/his clothing and thoroughly search through it. They look in the prisoner’s mouth, at their genitalia/genitals, and ask the prisoner to squat and cough or bend and spread their buttocks for the staff member to visually inspect these areas.
Do you think the strip search process at the end of visits impacts your well-being?
It is a very degrading experience. When I first entered prison it was very uncomfortable and difficult to do. I got through it by repeatedly telling myself it was a sacrifice I had to make to see the people I love and care about. Over the years the process has become easier.
I have received over 1,530 visits during the past 29 years. It translates to about four years of total visits. That is a very significant number of visits for an individual prisoner to receive by any standard. It is also a powerful testament to the overwhelming outpouring of support I have enjoyed from family and friends.
Can you describe what is allowed and prohibited during a typical visitation experience?
Visitors and prisoners are allowed one hug and one kiss at the beginning and end of visits, as well as during photos. Couples can also hold hands or have their arm around each other during the visit. Any other physical contact can result in a misconduct report being written and the visit being terminated. Visitors are allowed to bring coins into the visiting room or purchase a vending machine debit card to purchase sandwiches, snacks, and beverages from vending machines in the visiting room. They are also allowed to purchase photo tickets to have photos taken during the visit by a prisoner who is assigned as the visiting room photographer.
In addition to purchasing food in the visiting room most visiting rooms have playing cards, board games, and a small selection of religious books and children’s books for visitors and prisoners to use. They also have some toys available for children to play with alone or with the prisoner they are visiting. Only the visitors are allowed to walk around in the visiting room to purchase things from the vending machines, use the microwave to heat up food, or get games or books.
One example of how fatherhood has changed me is making me more cognizant of the need to keep the children’s toys, games, and books in the visiting room as updated as possible because I know my daughter will use them. Since her birth, I have worked closely with prisoners on the Prisoner Benefit Fund to ensure that old, broken, or missing items are replaced. Sometimes I have had to get dolls, blocks, puzzles, or coloring books added or replaced to the toys. Before my daughter came into my life I didn’t think about these things. Now I am always thinking about not only the needs of my own child, but the needs of the children of all incarcerated parents.
What is it like to transition from living in prison each day to going to the visitor room to see family and friends?
I think it is different for everyone. When I first came to prison, it was more difficult because I was only 16-years-old living under constant pressure every day just to survive. I was under constant stress, adjusting to life isolated from society, and living what seemed to be moment to moment. I felt like I was constantly in combat mode and kept my guard up needing to be prepared to defend myself at any time.
Making the transition to going out into the visiting room where I could drop my guard was stressful. It felt as if I was going from one completely different world to another in just the short time it took to walk to the visiting room. The 100 yard walk seemed like a 100 mile walk in many ways. Over the years the transition has become much easier. It has by no means been an easy process, but the process has changed just as I have changed and my circumstances have changed along the way.
I have since adjusted to prison more. I have grown older and matured, and the dangers of being a 16-year-old juvenile prisoner in Michigan’s most violent prisons were much different then than for the 45-year-old man I am today. Prison has also changed and is not as dangerous today as it was almost 30 years ago. I am not living under the constant pressure of protecting myself from violence like I was before and am able to enjoy my visits more without having to first go through an intense de-stressing process.
Is it difficult to end visits after spending time with loved ones?
That is always difficult though it has become easier to manage as I have grown older. Most times I take a nap after visits because I feel mentally and emotionally exhausted. It doesn’t diminish the time I enjoy with family and friends, it is just overwhelming sometimes because I don’t get to spend time physically with them every day. Sometimes it’s every couple weeks or depending on the winter weather it can be once a month. So, when I do get to spend time with them we talk for hours, they purchase me food and beverages from the vending machines that I never get to eat in the prison, and we make the most of our time together.
Visiting with my daughter is the most challenging of all because she has a lot of energy. I am frequently reminded that she is just like I was at her age. From the moment she arrives until she leaves, we are playing board games, reading together, doing puzzles, coloring, and talking. I try to talk to her as much as I can and share our visiting time with my wife as well, but my daughter tries to consume every minute we spend together.
I cherish every moment I get to visit with family and friends and am grateful that they make the sacrifices they do to make each visit possible. Their visits have been a one of the most important parts of my life all these years and they have reminded me I am loved, supported, and never forgotten. There is no question they have contributed to helping me become the person I am today. Visits are an important part of every prisoner’s life who receives them. The most successful prisoners who are paroled are those who have received regular visits and remained connected to the world outside of prison through phone calls, emails, and letters.
What percentage of prisoners do you believe receive regular visits?
My experience and observations over the years would estimate that number to be about 10%. When I asked several prisoners this question to juxtapose my estimate with theirs they arrived at an average of 15%. In either case, that number is disturbingly low to any person of conscience. There are a lot of barriers to prisoners receiving visits, the main one being the financial inability for people to do so.
Most prisoners are from low-income communities. The remote location of most prisons, people leading busy lives, and visiting schedules at prisons that house multiple custody level prisoners that disallow prisoners from different levels from visiting at the same time also create barriers. The latter issue seriously limits the visiting days and times people can visit because visiting hours at those prisons are divided in half.
